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Expert Perspective:
Recent talks/interviews with Rich Luker (ESPN Sports Poll, Luker on Trends)

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State of Sports for Gen Z Kids: Building Lifelong Affection in a Hyper-Competitive Market

Generation Z kids are bombarded by a tsunami of highly accessible and enticing alternatives to sports each day. What effect will this have on the long-term outlook for the professional sports industry? How can the sports industry adapt to this reality in a manner that builds a relationship TODAY so that kids will be engaged with sports tomorrow?
Rich Luker, the Founder of the ESPN Sports Poll, and Terence Burke, SVP of Research and Editor-in-Chief of KidSay’s Trend Tracker report, will describe a new alliance of the two groups and present the first, ever, “State of Sports for Generation Z” convergenceing kids from 5-17.

From Pokemon Go to Esports: Lessons and Opportunities

At the 2017 Project Play Summit, experts weigh in on how to assure more free play for kids through technology. What lessons can be learned from the popularity of Pokemon Go and esports? Moderating the session is Jeremy Goldberg, President, LeagueApps. Panelists are Angela Ruggiero, Co-Founder/Managing Director, Sports Innovation Lab; Chris Kluwe, Former NFL Punter; Vikram Grover, Senior Director of Business Development, Niantic; and Rich Luker, Founder, Luker on Trends.

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Qualitative Discussion:
Evolution of esports

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Gamelab Barcelona 2017 – Mike Sepso – Shaping eSports right
YouTube
Mike Sepso is Senior Vice President of Activision Blizzard where he runs Media Networks, a division devoted to creating the best esports experiences for fans across games, platforms and geographies. Prior to joining Activision Blizzard, Mike was the co-founder and president of Major League Gaming (MLG), a global leader in esports, focusing on strategy, key partnerships, corporate development and overseeing all product and technology development, including the launch of MLG.TV. In his conversation with Dot Esports journalist Thiemo Bräutigan, Mike goes through Activision Blizzard’s Esports strategy for the comming years, and comments on the latest news around the Overwatch Global League.

“Esports: Big Buzz or Big Business?”
Hashtag Sports, June 2017
YouTube
Leading executives from the world of sports business, consumer brands, media and technology engage in a lively debate on whether the industry will deliver on its $1bn promise or, as some predict, will prove to be a false dawn for the sector and its investors. A panel of experts will discuss how the emergence of eSports as a global mainstream phenomenon is driving their own strategies, be it as a marketing vehicle or an investment prospect, while also dissecting the argument of those who doubt the long-term commercial value of the eSports ecosystem.

“Booming business of esports sets sights on conquering mainstream audiences”
VentureBeat, February 12, 2018

“League of Lawyers: Esports is creating a new class of white-collar jobs”
VentureBeat, February 6, 2018

“The Esports Playbook”
Nielsen launched an Esports division in August 2017. Their inaugural audience report includes a final chapter called “What’s Next” which talks about the future of esports on linear TV, as well as the future for VR/AR esports.

“The who, what and why of the World Esports Association”
Polygon, May 2016
Discussion of the formation of the World Esports Association, a league representing competitions organized by ESL (a tournament organizer), and focused only on one game (Counter-Strike: Global Offensive) at the time of launch. One of the goals of the organization is to further professionalized esports by introducing player representation, standardized regulations, and revenue sharing for teams.

In 2013, Klaus Æ. Mogensen made a set of media predictions and scenarios to 2030. The details of the scenarios are being a publication paywall, but the predictions are accessible as part of a preview. Here is a summary of his predictions:

More of…

bigger screens with better resolution and color (16k-32k screens)

content (more in public domain, more self-published, more new free)

bandwidth availability, usage, and requirements

variety of devices (very small and very big)

subscription streams will continue to replace ownership of individual works

collaborative creation of content

Less of…

printed mass media

physical access points for digital content (brick-and-mortar rental/purchase points)

digital content on physical media

slow, rigid distribution systems (eg: traditional publishers)

Possibly…

micro-implants enabling thought-based user interfaces and feedback (eg: augmented reality)

screens that be folded or rolled

holographic displays

Source: Mogensen, Klaus Æ. September 24, 2013. “The Media World 2013.” Scenario, 5

Benedict Evans made an interesting post recently about the future of cars in the next few decades. Specifically, about what a car is, how it gets made, who owns them.

Evans suggests the the car manufacturing industry may undergo similar organizational and technological shifts to those seen in cell phone manufacturing.

As on-demand car services comprise an increasing share of car purchases, characteristics like flair, design, innovation, fit and finish won’t matter as much.

Self-driving cars will increase supply of on-demand car services. They will also induce many other second-order effects: decreased demand for parking and public transport; more retail spaces (because of less car parking), more visitors to city centers; more traffic congestion (or less b/c of automated traffic optimization); possibly limited transport options for low-income pub transit users; possibly increased biking because it will be safer, or less because of availability/convenience of on-demand cars.

Overall, fewer cars will be sold. Many (maybe most) will be sold to on-demand service providers. Few of them will be luxury models.

Car smarts will increasingly come from software, and that software will be delivered to some (maybe large) extent from the mobile devices we carry.

Source: Benedict Evans. August 21, 2015. “Ways to Think about Cars.”